MICHI WINS IRONMAN COZUMEL

Second Ironman victory of the year in Mexico

On Sunday, 18 November, Austrian professional triathlete Michael Weiss won Ironman Cozumel for the third time and only 5 weeks after coming home in 10th place at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. This victory made him a 6-time Ironman winner.

The swim conditions in the Marina Fonatur were relatively difficult from the start due to the strong northerly winds which had been whipping up the Caribbean Sea for several days making it choppier than usual. The water temperature was 26 degrees which meant it was a non-wetsuit swim. Even so, and with some pretty strong currents to contend with over the 3.8km course to the Chankaanaab Park, Michi had a very good swim and got out of the water in his BlueSeventy PZ4TX after 47:34, only 3:35 behind the leader.

In short order Michi caught the main group on the bike and then took the outright lead. From that point on, Michi had a rather lonely race on his Diamondback Andean with HED Vanquish 8 wheels. The uber biker from Gumpoldskirchen held pace with the help of his SRM Origin Power Meter and PowerControl 8 and averaged 315 watts for the entire bike course. "The wind conditions were typical of Cozumel today: strong crosswinds in the southeast of the island which were much harder than last year, although I have experienced more difficult conditions in my career, these were up there," said the Lower Austrian. Thanks to the fastest bike split of the day of 4:13:05, which was only 1 minute slower than last year, Michi reached T2 with a lead of over 12 minutes.

A detailed analysis of Michi's bike performance can be found on www.srm.de Many thanks to Coach Garth Fox!

The heat together with extremely high humidity was the decisive factor on the run leg. But having had a great 10-day stay in the El Cozumeleno Beach Resort prior to the race where Michi was able to train well and get used to the conditions, the TriRunners Baden athlete also performed with aplomb over the 42.2km run course. From the very first step of the run, Michi was able to maintain a consistent gap over Samuel Hürzeler and Ivan Raña, and only in the second half of the run did he ease off somewhat. Even so he clocked 2:54:02 for the marathon and crossed the line for a total time of 7:58:35.

"Immediately after the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii I came down with a really heavy cold and even ended up taking a course of antibiotics for a secondary infection. It was not until Cozumel race week that I began to feel good again", notes an overjoyed Michi Weiss.

Surprisingly, Michi's triathlon season is not over yet: after a few days' holiday in Cozumel, he will travel to Argentina to compete in the South American Ironman Championship on 2 December in Mar del Plata.